I Scream for ICE CREAM (late entry)

 

 Dear Fatsy,

 I just found out that July is the National Ice Cream Month and that today, July 15, is the National Ice Cream Day. With the day’s temperature being in the high 80s , I didn’t need a national declaration to grab a scoop (or two) of one of my favorite ice cream flavor, Cherry Garcia, from Ben and Jerry’s. I also started fantasizing on one of Cold Stone Creamery’s creations. I sure could indulge on a “love it” size of Strawberry Banana Rendezvous which is a confection of strawberry ice cream, graham cracker pie crust, white chocolate chips, strawberries and banana. While we’re on the subject of this creamy goodness, I’m also salivating for a double scoop of Tiramisu gelato which I favored during our trip to Italy last year. Yikes! If I succumb to all my cravings, it would take me another year to melt all the added pounds away.

All this wishful thinking led me to ruminate on the all-time favorite ice cream from my childhood, the Magnolia Ice Cream. Although I’ve tried a variety of ice cream flavors and brands over the past 13 years, there’s no replacing the memories associated with Magnolia. I remember being so excited everytime there was a special occasion or celebration because it meant having ice cream. Although there weren’t that many flavors to choose from, there’s usually a long deliberation as to which flavor to pick. It was most likely a toss up between Ube Macapuno and Halo-Halo. I also remember that my mother had a penchant for saving the empty containers so our pantry cabinets were littered with those. Come to think of it, we also had a lot of empty Nescafe glasses back then.

When my family opened a refreshment parlor/eatery years ago, we became an authorized dealer for Magnolia Ice Cream. Business was brisk and profitable but when our city experienced frequent and extended periods of brownouts (remember them?), my parents decided to forego the dealership since it became a financial loss when you had gallons and pints of ice cream melting in a non-functioning freezer. We ended up selling them for half the price and we can only eat so much of it in a day!

So, what is your favorite ice cream flavor and brand? According to the web, these are supposed to be the 25 most-searched flavors this summer:

Vanilla Chocolate Strawberry Peach Banana Coffee Green Tea Coconut Butter Pecan Peanut Butter Lemon Pineapple Apple

Ginger Mango Mint Cinnamon Spumoni Oreo Blueberry Pistachio Apricot Custard Cherry Cheesecake

I don’t know about you guys, but I’m heading over to the Filipino store tomorrow and grab me a half gallon of mango flavor Magnolia ice cream. While there, I might also indulge in some halo-halo. Oh, yeah! The heat might be on but I’m staying cool.

Sandy

P.S. names are changed.

xD